MANILA, Philippines — The country’s Food and Drug Administration warned the public against purchase and use of widely-available steroid dexamethasone—hailed as a breakthrough to help reduce deaths from coronavirus disease (COVID-19)—without a doctor’s prescription.
In an advisory Friday, the FDA stressed that dexamethasone is a prescription drug and should be strictly used under the supervision of a licensed physician.
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“The drug should be only dispensed by licensed establishments to patients with valid prescription. The sale of unregistered dexamethasone or sale of the drug without valid prescription or through online platforms is strictly prohibited,” it said.
A team of researchers from the University of Oxford said preliminary results of a study showed that dexamethasone—which is normally used to treat allergic reactions as well as rheumatoid arthritis—had reduced deaths among the seriously ill COVID-19 patients by a third.
The FDA warned that misuse or unsupervised use of the drug may lead to impairment of the body’s ability to fight infections, gastrointestinal bleeding and ulcers, electrolyte imbalance, osteoporosis and muscle weakness.
It added that prolonged use of dexamethasone may cause suppression of growth among infants and children as well as obesity. It may also result in hypotension, shock and coma, if stopped abruptly.
The Department of Health earlier cautioned the public against the unregulated use of dexamethasone. DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said experts have yet to validate the findings of University of Oxford researchers.
“People might think that this is the magic pill for COVID-19. It is not,” she said Wednesday.
Currently, there are no treatments and vaccines approved for COVID-19.
The new coronavirus has so far infected 28,459 people in the Philippines, with 1,130 deaths.
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